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SCANDAL: On parole & charged w/ a technical violation—curfew, missed appointment, positive alcohol? Get remanded on Rikers. Worse: The Chief Judge of parole court on Rikers is now illegally *pressuring subordinates to send people back to prison.* Thread:gothamist.com/2019/04/30/par…
.@Gothamist got rare access to parole officials on background. It was already bad before Chief Judge started. Parole is “interested in only one thing: making sure they don't get blamed when a case goes bad. So their solution is simply to lock everybody up that you can."
NY already exceptional for harshness: “Reincarcerates more technical violators than any state except Illinois. Technical violators accounted for 29% of 21,675 people sent to NY State prison in 2016.” Think: 1/3 of all new admissions to prison are for non-criminal rule violations!
Then enter Rhonda Tomlinson in 2017. “Things changed drastically. She stripped the judges of their independence and discretion and biased the [already biased] revocation system in favor of re-incarceration. Judges are afraid of setting parolees free for fear of crossing her.”
This is crazy: @LegalAidNYC Parole Revocation lawyers reported several instances where judges “paused on-going hearings to step out of the hearing room to *ask Tomlinson for permission* to restore parole.
In contrast Judges don't have to ask her permission to impose prison time.”
In contrast Judges don't have to ask her permission to impose prison time.”
Lawless. After one judge ruled in favor of a person on parole, the Chief of parole prosecutors went outside the normal process & complained (behind closed doors) directly to Chief Judge Tomlinson. Instead of dismissing the complaint as improper, she ordered the judge to respond!
Former Probation commissioner: “That calls for an Inspector General investigation. The judges are supposed to be objective."
Legal experts: “If a supervising official pressured subordinates or vetoed decisions outside agency's decision-making process it would violate the law.”
Legal experts: “If a supervising official pressured subordinates or vetoed decisions outside agency's decision-making process it would violate the law.”
The parole problem is far more than Tomlinson obviously. The culture of supervision favors brutality over rehabilitation. The law deprives people on parole of due process once their parole officer decides to violate them. Arrest. Automatic jail. No right to appointed counsel.
The tireless @DonnaHylton says it: “If I'm five minutes late for my curfew, then I'm being threatened [with a violation]. And one of the things that's disheartening. When you're doing good, they want to threaten you even more.” All stick. No carrot. Success is failure to parole.
I wrote recently on how far & why parole has strayed from its historical purpose of being an *alternative* to incarceration driven by rehabilitation:
Good news: states finally starting to make needed changes: “Earned time credit”—For every 30 days successful get 30 days shaved off end of parole. Restrictions on incarceration for technical violations. The “Less is More” bill in NY would be transformative:nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-ope…
“Less is More” would:
-Prohibit arrests/incarceration for most technical violations.
-Give earned time credit for good behavior.
-Require robust due process severely restricting pre-hearing jail for parole arrests.
-Enhance rehabilitation. nysenate.gov//legislation/b…
-Prohibit arrests/incarceration for most technical violations.
-Give earned time credit for good behavior.
-Require robust due process severely restricting pre-hearing jail for parole arrests.
-Enhance rehabilitation. nysenate.gov//legislation/b…
For more on this issue, the history of probation and parole, movements across country, injustice & alternatives to this horrible, irrational, criminogenic status quo, read this excellent report by @VinSchiraldi & @Columbia Justice Labs👇. justicelab.columbia.edu/sites/default/… 
